Negotiating – Aim High and watch out for ‘Split The Difference’!

Your starting price and terms for your negotiations should be the highest you could possibly justify for your product or service. The closer your starting point is to what you are prepared to accept, the less you have left to negotiate with and the less likely you are to be [...]

Posted on February 28th, 2012 by Bruce

Probably the best advice I ever received…

Although this advice was not given to me directly by the originator, but instead by a sales manager who was coaching me many years ago, it was the best advice I ever received. The original quote was by Jim Rohn who said: ‘You become the average of the six people [...]

Posted on February 24th, 2012 by Bruce

I hate sales scripts! I won’t use them – or will you?

“I hate sales scripts” and “I won’t use a script when cold calling or selling” are two comments that are frequently made when I introduce the concept of writing and using a script during my training sessions. In many cases the objections are very strong indeed. And in spite of [...]

Posted on February 17th, 2012 by Bruce

Dealing with ‘I have to discuss it with XXXXXXXX’ when closing a sale

We all know that we should qualify our prospects and confirm whether or not they have the authority to make a decision to invest in our product or service. But even when we have made that qualification, the person we are selling to may still come out with that dreaded [...]

Posted on February 12th, 2012 by Bruce

Never forget you’re in SALES…

I mention this because, over the last few months, I’ve been accompanying salespeople on visits for two of my clients and what has horrified me most is the failure of so many to ask for the business (close the sale). I remember very well when I was given my first [...]

Posted on February 10th, 2012 by Bruce

Customer Service & The Extra Mile…

You may recall I’ve mentioned in previous blogs and newsletters the fact that ‘the extra mile is rarely crowded’ and that going that extra mile can so often put you ‘miles ahead’ of the competition. Based on my experiences trying to buy a new car recently, I have two observations [...]

Posted on February 4th, 2012 by Bruce

We don’t see things as they are but we see things as WE are…

So Sometimes it’s better NOT to focus on your goals… This is a true story… A man sat in a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since [...]

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by Bruce

YOU only have one USP…

One of the exercises I sometimes take delegates through in sales master classes is to ask them to list the USPs of their product or service. Sometimes this exercise is done individually and other times it’s brainstormed in groups. When they have completed this first exercise, I then ask them [...]

Posted on January 28th, 2012 by Bruce

It’s time you got really uncomfortable!

It was my good friend and sales guru Brian Tracey who once said: “Selling is the oldest profession – some say there’s an older one but that’s just a sub division of sales”. So what’s that got to do with me wanting to make you feel uncomfortable? Well simply this… [...]

Posted on January 21st, 2012 by Bruce

People buy from people, so…

Don’t make this mistake… It is almost certain that before contacting you or responding to an initial approach from you, prospective customers or clients are going to check out your company and / or you on your website and other places such as Linked In, Facebook etc. According to all [...]

Posted on January 17th, 2012 by Bruce

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